PPC: Mobile vs. Desktop

May 3, 2013

The number of Americans performing searches from smartphones has exploded in recent years, and only continues to grow as the technology becomes cheaper and more readily available. Due to this rising statistic, it is now almost impossible for small businesses to have worthwhile conversations about online marketing without addressing mobile search. In order to reach customers and stay competitive, it is highly recommended that businessescreate and maintain sites that are optimized for mobile.

While having a mobile site is becoming more and more standard in today’s marketing landscape, one topic that still brings about a lot of questions from business owners is that of mobile Pay-Per-Click (PPC). With a significant number of consumers embracing mobile and tablet search, marketers running PPC campaigns often wonder how effective a mobile PPC campaign might be as compared to a traditional desktop campaign. To answer that question, almost 25% of paid search clicks came from mobile devices last year, meaning mobile PPC campaigns are something that businesses cannot ignore.

Google has taken notice of this mobile trend, recently launching a new AdWords program to reflect the changes in user search behavior. Now, instead of creating separate campaigns for each device, businesses are able to manage multiple devices conveniently from one single campaign. The program works by setting separate bid prices for each device a business chooses to include in a PPC campaign.

With programs, such as Google AdWords, making it easier for businesses to implement mobile strategies, businesses are becoming increasingly interested.  In order to successfully create a PPC campaign as part of your overall strategy for online marketing, it is important to have a good base of mobile knowledge because strategies differ slightly from those used for traditional desktop computers. The following are a few things you should consider:

  • Ad Copy. When running a mobile PPC campaign as part of a strategy for online marketing specific copy but be created that is action oriented as mobile searchers are often looking to make a decision on the spot. Offer incentives to potential customers for clicking the ad or calling directly from their phone. You do noy need to include your phone number in the ad content as it will just appear automatically when a user clicks.
  • Landing Pages. Whether searching from a mobile device or a desktop computer, users expect landing pages to load almost instantaneously and will quickly hit the back button if they have to wait. This presents a particular problem for businesses that are developing mobile landing pages and mobile websites as mobile searchers tend to have slower internet connections. To avoid slow loading times, mobile sites should be built very minimally, providing only the basic information the customer needs to make a decision. This method not only improves loading times, but also makes the site easier to read from a small screen of a mobile device. Keep text large and to a minimum, and also include sizeable buttons that can easily be clicked by the press of a finger.
  • Keywords. Like with desktops, it is important to achieve high keyword rankings. In order to do so, businesses need to understand how mobile search differs. On smartphones, people are typing with their thumbs, one finger or perhaps using voice search, which means that there are many more mistypes in the search bar when compared to searches from desktop computers. Having this knowledge allows businesses to anticipate these mistypes, and choose keywords that are both exact match and variable from the original phrase. An online marketing company specializing in search engine optimization and mobile websites in Scottsdale can help you to develop a strong mobile keyword list that will generate high keyword rankings and increase conversions.

The above tips are only a few that you should keep in mind when designing a mobile PPC campaign. To make sure that you address all the components necessary to a successful campaign, it is best to work with a professional company offering search engine optimization and website services.

At Fasturtle, specializing in online marketing in Scottsdale, we have the mobile expertise to create winning campaigns for your business. We have written and built clean, user friendly mobile websites as well as mobile PPC campaigns for a wide variety of businesses. In addition to copywriting and design, we also have a talented, experienced search engine optimization team that has the skills to optimize mobile ads and sites, increasing keyword rankings and targeted traffic. For more information on mobile websites in Scottsdale or wherever your business may be located, please call Fasturtle today at (888) 468-8785 or contact us online.

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